Coming off their first loss in 12 games against Cornell on Tuesday, Binghamton baseball played a three-game series against Longwood University this weekend, dropping two games. After splitting their first two games in a doubleheader on Friday, Binghamton blew a 7-0 lead in the final game on Sunday to lose the series.

“I thought it was a good series between two pretty good mid-major programs,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “I think in the end, their bullpen was the difference, in addition to maybe some timely hitting that they got that we didn’t.”

The Bearcats (22-16, 12-3 AE) got off to a bang in game one on Friday, with a pair of home runs from sophomore outfielder Braylen Gonzalez and sophomore catcher Tommy Popoff driving in three runs in the first inning. Junior pitcher Conner Griffin pitched three scoreless innings to start. The Lancers (26-18, 8-7 BSo) answered in the fourth, however, scoring five runs off of a home run and a double to take a 5-3 lead.

After another four scoreless innings, the Lancers added onto their lead in the ninth with two more solo home runs. With Binghamton unable to drive in any more runs in the bottom of the inning, game one ended at a score of 7-3.

“We had a day off [on Saturday],” Sinicki said following the doubleheader. “We had a light practice and a good workout, and I thought we came out really good [on Sunday] in all areas, almost like playing two ball games.”

Binghamton was once again first to score in game two, with an RBI single from Popoff giving them the lead in the first. Sophomore infielder Sean Sweeney followed up with an RBI triple in the second, and three more runs from the Bearcats in the fourth made it a 5-0 game.

A solo home run shot from the Lancers in the sixth put them on the board, but a fielding error by Longwood allowed two more Bearcats to score. The Lancers scored three more runs in the seventh, but a homer from junior catcher Zach Anderson and a single from sophomore outfielder Matt Bolton gave the Bearcats a 10-4 lead. Longwood threatened the Binghamton lead in the final inning, scoring four more runs off a series of hits, but they were unable to complete the comeback as they fell at 10-8.

“[Junior pitcher Jackson Mitchell]’s done a wonderful job making the transition from reliever to starter,” Sinicki said following a strong performance from the pitcher. “I want to keep pushing him a little bit and upping his pitch count, but he was coming back on one day’s shorter rest this go around, and so his stuff started to tail off a little bit in the fifth, and he kind of gutted through it, and it felt like it was time to get him out.”

Game three once again saw the Bearcats open scoring, as RBIs from Popoff and Anderson made it 3-0 in the first. An RBI from sophomore first baseman Steven Kraus made it 4-0 before a three-home run launched off the bat of Bolton to make it a 7-0 ballgame in the fourth. The Lancers answered in the fifth with a bases-clearing double and an additional RBI to make it a 7-4 game, and another two runs in the seventh brought the game within one. As the Bearcats continued to struggle in the box, Longwood took advantage of the situation, putting up three more runs in the ninth thanks to a pair of singles to take a 9-7 lead and ultimately win the game.

“Got to try to get some more pitchers going this week,” Sinicki said, headed into their next match. “Try to get some guys feeling good about themselves and performing well, and just try to do a little better job executing on offense.”

Binghamton will look to bounce back on Tuesday, April 28, as they head on the road to take on Le Moyne College in a one-game matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Dick Rockwell Field in Syracuse, New York.